All posts tagged: Gear of the Year

Sony A7 Mark II series The year 2015 saw the arrival of Sony’s full Mark II A7 fleet, adding five-axis full-frame sensor stabilisation to the mirrorless ILC. While the 42-megapixel A7R II [below left] is now acknowledged as the top of the range, the first update, the A7 II (24-megapixels), also improved autofocus, body design, sealing and shutter life. Its on-sensor, phase-detection AF works with many adapted Sony A-mount and Canon EF lenses. The second update (A7R to A7R II) moved from 36- to 42-megapixels with a new shutter and 4k video direct to SDXC card, plus a larger electronic viewfinder (0.78×). The backside-illuminated CMOS sensor allows first curtain electronic and silent shutter modes while curing rangefinder wide-angle colour shading and smearing. The final upgrade, the A7S II, kept 12-megapixels and moonlight-friendly ISO 409,600, while adding the advances of the A7R II and 14-bit uncompressed raw. Finally, Sony gave this to the A7 II/A7R II by a firmware upgrade. www.sony.co.uk Leica Q If you are looking for an absolutely first-class compact camera that will produce results …